From the 2019 Onassis Science Lecture Series to the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: American biochemist Jennifer Doudna honored for the development of a pioneering method for genome editing
The headline speaker at last year’s Onassis Science Lecture Series, Jennifer Doudna, has won this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
From the Onassis Science Lectures Series 2019
Following her win of the 2015 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (considered the “Oscar” of the science world), American biochemist Jennifer Doudna shares this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Emmanuelle Charpentier, Honorary Professor at Humboldt University in Germany. Doudna and Charpentier were honored by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for the development of a pioneering method for genome editing which, in the long term, is expected to facilitate the development of new treatments for serious diseases. It is worth noting here that Emmanuelle Charpentier was also invited to speak as part of the 2019 Onassis Science Lecture Series, but was unable to attend due to prior engagements.
Jennifer Doudna developed the CRISPR system in collaboration with Emmanuelle Charpentier. This new technology transformed an arcane bacterial immune response mechanism into a powerful and widely-used genetic technology with multiple applications in the biomedical sciences.
The Onassis Science Lectures that could not take place in the summer of 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic are being rescheduled for 2021 (epidemiological conditions permitting).
As of 2001, more than 1,600 students have attended the 24 lecture series on physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and computer science, organized by the Onassis Foundation in collaboration with the Foundation for Research and Technology. The lectures (Onassis Foundation Science Lecture Series) are of a summer school nature, taking place in July every year, and are realized by leading scientists from all over the world – among them 18 nobelists, 4 Turing Award winners and Fields Medal holder, Edward Witten. The lectures are delivered in English and are accompanied with lectures by prominent Greek scientists of the respective fields.